Portrait of a Lady, 1929

While the condescendingly lowered gaze of the portrayed intimates her class consciousness, this is eclipsed by an expectant sensuality, perhaps also by a touch of melancholy. Filling up the canvas, the bust portrait has firm outlines, though it is clear that this firmness was only achieved after much weighing and shifting. The three-quarter view was likely only curtailed with powerful gestures at the end, while the right shoulder remained cut off. Anton Faistauer (1887–1930) was initially a companion of Egon Schiele’s (1890–1918), but failed to identify with his fellow students’ Expressionist forays. Following a Secessionist phase and an in-depth exploration of Paul Cézanne’s (1839–1906) painting, he arrived at an independent manner of expression. He saw his mission in building a bridge between tradition and modernism, which he ascribed, by his own admission, to a common “primeval creative essence”.

IR, 2021